Editorial

Editorial
Stafford, John
2005-01-05 00:00:00
Precision Agriculture, 6, 5, 2005 2005 Springer ScienceþBusiness Media, Inc. Manufactured in The Netherlands. Just before Christmas last year (2003), we learnt of the tragic and untimely death of Pierre Robert, co-editor and founder of Precision Agriculture. Pierre, who many regarded as the father of PA, was remembered in a special session of the 7th International Conference on Precision Agriculture held in Minneapolis, USA last July. One of the papers presented there by another ‘‘giant’’ in PA, Alex McBratney, has been reproduced as the ﬁrst paper in this issue as our memorial to Pierre. It takes an overview of the future of PA in what is more of an extended editorial/com- mentary than a research paper. It will, I trust, provoke thought and further research endeavours in the important area of precision agriculture. Since the death of Pierre, I have continued as sole editor of the Journal. I am very pleased to announce that the large editorial burden is now to be shared by a new co-editor, Professor Margaret Oliver. Margaret, who is already on the Editorial Board, brings much expertise and experience which, I am sure, will complement my editorial skills. She has provided the following brief CV to introduce her to you, the reader: ‘‘I obtained a BSc in Geography and Geology at the University of Bristol, UK and then taught in higher education prior to doing a doctorate at the University of Birmingham, UK. The research focused on the multivariate and geostatistical analysis of soil data from the Wyre Forest. Since then my research interests have included the application of a wide range of numerical methods to soil and other data including pollen counts, forestry, radon emission, remotely sensed imagery and the incidence of childhood cancer. Speciﬁc interests are in sample design for spatial analysis and eventual mapping, risk associated with prescribed thresholds in relation to soil pollutants or deﬁciencies of soil nutrients, and the relations between diﬀerent scales of spatial variation. My most recent research has been in the ﬁeld of precision agriculture at the University of Reading, UK. I retired at the end of September 2004 from the post of Reader in Spatial Analysis but still retain links with the University as Visiting Professor. I have been an associate editor of the European Journal of Soil Science, on the editorial board of Precision Agriculture and continue as an assistant editor of Mathematical Geology. I have published over 60 academic papers and co-authored two books.’’ Welcome on board, Margaret! John Staﬀord Silsoe Solutions, Ampthill, Bedford, UK
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Abstract

Precision Agriculture, 6, 5, 2005 2005 Springer ScienceþBusiness Media, Inc. Manufactured in The Netherlands. Just before Christmas last year (2003), we learnt of the tragic and untimely death of Pierre Robert, co-editor and founder of Precision Agriculture. Pierre, who many regarded as the father of PA, was remembered in a special session of the 7th International Conference on Precision Agriculture held in Minneapolis, USA last July. One of the papers presented there by another ‘‘giant’’ in PA, Alex McBratney, has been reproduced as the ﬁrst paper in this issue as our memorial to Pierre. It takes an overview of the future of PA in what is more of an extended editorial/com- mentary than a research paper. It will, I trust, provoke thought and further research endeavours in the important area of precision agriculture. Since the death of Pierre, I have continued as sole editor of the Journal. I am very pleased to announce that the large editorial burden is now to be shared by a new co-editor, Professor Margaret Oliver. Margaret, who is already on the Editorial Board, brings much expertise and experience which, I am sure, will complement my editorial skills. She has provided the following brief CV to introduce her to you, the reader: ‘‘I obtained a BSc in Geography and Geology at the University of Bristol, UK and then taught in higher education prior to doing a doctorate at the University of Birmingham, UK. The research focused on the multivariate and geostatistical analysis of soil data from the Wyre Forest. Since then my research interests have included the application of a wide range of numerical methods to soil and other data including pollen counts, forestry, radon emission, remotely sensed imagery and the incidence of childhood cancer. Speciﬁc interests are in sample design for spatial analysis and eventual mapping, risk associated with prescribed thresholds in relation to soil pollutants or deﬁciencies of soil nutrients, and the relations between diﬀerent scales of spatial variation. My most recent research has been in the ﬁeld of precision agriculture at the University of Reading, UK. I retired at the end of September 2004 from the post of Reader in Spatial Analysis but still retain links with the University as Visiting Professor. I have been an associate editor of the European Journal of Soil Science, on the editorial board of Precision Agriculture and continue as an assistant editor of Mathematical Geology. I have published over 60 academic papers and co-authored two books.’’ Welcome on board, Margaret! John Staﬀord Silsoe Solutions, Ampthill, Bedford, UK